Carey Price loses his cool

One of the most impressive parts of the Caps' Game 3 win in Montreal was the team's discipline, skating away from post-whistle skirmishes and letting the Canadiens goad their way into nothingness. It's hard to get the back of a sweater excessively angry.

Well, after two periods in Game 4, the Caps were having fun answering back, and there were plenty of post-whistle exchanges. One ended with Jason Chimera in the penalty box and the Canadiens on the power play. Mike Knuble, ever the wise old hockey soul, wasn't having that.

(By Shaun Best - Reuters)

"I think we got a little bit on our heels there, we ended up in the box and you've got to stay disciplined this time of year and this time of the game," he said during the second period intermission, answering a completely unrelated question. "We're kind of getting goaded into some stuff. We've got to stay out of the box here, give ourselves a 5-on-5 chance."

Well, that happened. After taking four penalties in the first two periods, the Caps stayed out of the box entirely in the third. And Habs' goalie Carey Price, meantime, went batty, flinging the puck toward the celebrating Caps after Washington's fourth goal and tapping Nicklas Backstrom on the back of his legs from the bench after Washington's sixth goal. Both earned unsportsmanlike calls.

"Maybe that shows a little bit of (the) immaturity of this team," an unhappy Mike Cammalleri said, via Michael Farber. "We've got to grow up a little bit. It is not OK."

Price admitted after the game that he was intentionally sending the puck toward those celebrating Caps on the first call, saying "I didn't mean to actually hit 'em."

"Just frustration," he said. "It's not a good move, but [you want to] let 'em know that you're there."

"Well, I think he's an emotional person, emotional kid, and he's still learning," his coach, Jacques Martin said. "You don't want to take that passion and emotion [away], you've just got to learn to direct it in the right way."

Which is not into the back of Backstrom's legs, presumably. I'm not sure if anyone on either team was asked about that maneuver, and it seemed too gentle to sting, but it was certainly odd. Backstrom scored in an empty net with 11 seconds left, and as he skated past the Montreal bench, Price figured he would say hello. Backstrom just turned and smiled.

"We were getting a little bit distracted, you know, kind of getting caught up in some stuff, and then we ended up taking penalties as a result," he told Lisa Hillary after the game. "They used that to their advantage. They had us on our heels pretty good....We just decided to get ourselves together a little bit, calm down, refocus and play a strong [third] period."

Seems like a loophole in the hockey rules here. I understand why a different player sits in the box when a penalty is called on the goalie. But in this case, Price was on the bench when he committed the penalty. Price should have to sit in the box.
Montreal needs a lesson in class. Booing a National Anthem, shooting pucks into celebrations, and slashing players from the bench points to a growing acceptance of classless behavior. The coach/club needs to put and end to this. As Sam Wyche once pointed out - 'You don't live in Cleveland".

I said yesterday, and I'll repeat today, the Montreal Canadians are a bunch of whiny little brats. They don't get their way so they resort to childish behavior. It's why the far-superior Caps will finish them up tomorrow and send them home to cry.

And I really hope people stop talking about Montreal being the class of hockey and hockey history, etc. Their fans are some of the dumbest and most ignorant fans of any I've seen. They boo after ever hit as if it should be a 10 minute misconduct penalty + suspension + jail time. It's frankly embarassing to see them and how they behave. They don't know jack about hockey, they are disrespectful trash (they are the Philly of Canada), and their program hasn't done anything in 18 years...so stop living off a past that half the fans at games weren't even alive to witness.

They don't know jack about hockey, they are disrespectful trash (they are the Philly of Canada), and their program hasn't done anything in 18 years...so stop living off a past that half the fans at games weren't even alive to witness.

Posted by: Section104 | April 22, 2010 8:42 AM

I get what you're saying here, especially with the part about their program doing nothing for 18 years (17 actually) ... but we can't be the judge ... our number of Cups in that time is the same is theirs.

Also, this is why I like hockey more than soccer. Both are great games, beautiful to watch, but you know a soccer player is going to the ground, gripping his leg like he'd just be hit by a chainsaw if he gets hit like Backy did.

Backstrom just turns his head, wonders what happened and smiles about it. I love Caps hockey!

I think people were calling him that before that shirt was made. Personally, I think it's a good nickname for the guy. It's quite original (i.e. not simply tagging a "y" at the end like most hockey nicknames), and it's quite an accurate portrayal of the player he is.

Nevertheless, Knuble, I think, is the best pick-up the team has made. He was exactly what this team needed, and he deservedly wears the "A" on his sweats.

The Montreal Canadiens are sometimes called the New York Yankees of hockey. One of the reasons for that is the arrogance of les tricolores and their fans, which often matches baseball's pinstripes and their fans. When that arrogance turns into frustration at losing, you get reactions like Price's two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one period.